One in four people living in Reading today was born abroad, according to figures published in the 2011 census released this week.

One in four people living in Reading today was born abroad, according to figures published in the 2011 census released this week.

The 24.7 per cent figure is much higher than the national average where in England and Wales 13 per cent of the population was born in another country.

And 15.7 per cent of the 155,700 population of Reading – just over one in six – was born abroad and came here in the last 10 years.

Of those, the region of birth was 83.5 per cent from Europe, 9.7 per cent from the Middle East and Asia, 4.3 per cent from Africa, two per cent from the Americas and Caribbean and 0.4 per cent from Antarctica and Oceania.

There are 38 people per hectare, about the size of Trafalgar Square, in Reading compared to eight in Wokingham and 11 in Bracknell.

Reading’s population has gone up eight per cent since 2001.

The whole of London and the South East shows a sharp rise in foreign-born residents compared with the rest of the country.

In London, more than a third – 37 per cent – of its 8.2 million population were born abroad.

And of the 7.5 million people currently living in England and Wales who were not born in this country, more than half – 3.8 million – arrived in the last 10 years.

Immigrants account for 2.1 million of the 3.7 million rise in the national population.

Neighbouring boroughs have also seen a rise in the foreign-born population.

- In Wokingham, the figure is 12.3 per cent with five per cent coming to the borough in the last 10 years.

- West Berkshire has 9.1 per cent of its population born abroad and almost half of those came to the district in the last 10 years.

- In South Oxfordshire, 9.2 per cent of the population was born outside the country and 4.1 per cent arrived in the UK in the last 10 years.

- In Bracknell Forest, 13.2 per cent of the population was born abroad with 6.7 per cent arriving in the UK since the 2001 census.

- In Slough more than one in three people – 38 per cent – was born abroad and over half of those came to this country in the last 10 years.

The census also revealed a decline in the number of Christians in England and Wales. Half the population in Reading was Christian compared with 62.6 per cent in 2001.

In Wokingham, the number of Christians was down from 72.8 per cent to 59.5 over the 10-year period.

In West Berks, the figure has fallen from 75.5 per cent to 63.6 per cent and in South Oxfordshire the fall is from 75.5 per cent to 63.5 per cent.

Nationally, the number of Christians has dropped from 71.7 per cent to 59.3 per cent in the 10 years from 2001 to 2011.

And the sharpest rise has been in the number of people with no religion, which has gone up from 14 per cent to 25.1 per cent.

The census figures also show a general decline in the number of people with mortgages.

In Reading, the figure fell over the 10-year period from 40.3 per cent to 32.2 per cent.

This is above the national average of 33 per cent in 2011 compared with 39 per cent 10 years ago.

In Wokingham, the decline is from 52.9 per cent to 44.2, in West Berkshire from 47.7 per cent to 38.5 and in South Oxfordshire from 43.5 per cent to 35.8.

Nationally the number of people who own their homes outright without a mortgage has risen from 29 per cent to 31 per cent.

Reading Borough Council spokesman Dalitso Njolinjo said: “Reading as a town remains a good place to live and find work, even in the current economic climate.

“The latest census figures back this up as they show a total increase in population from 143,096 in 2001 to 155,700.

“Reading has always been proud of its diverse communities. Our education officers regularly monitor ethnicity in schools and have been aware of this population increase.

“We are proposing to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Government to include English as an Additional Language (EAL) factor in our local funding formula.”

There will be more on the 2011 census in next Wednesday’s Reading Post